Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing another high-stakes move in Ukraine’s wartime power structure, signaling that a major overhaul of the country’s embattled air force is imminent. After weeks of sweeping changes across the security establishment, the president is now hinting that the next phase will target the command and personnel responsible for defending Ukrainian skies.
Coming nearly four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, the promised shake-up is about more than internal politics. It reflects a bet that new leadership, fresh technology and a revamped mobilisation system can turn Ukraine’s air power from a patchwork of Soviet legacy jets and Western donations into a more coherent force able to blunt Russian strikes and reassure anxious allies.
Zelenskyy signals “new decisions” for the Air Force
In his latest public comments, Zelenskyy has made clear that the current configuration of Ukraine’s Air Force is not enough for the next phase of the war. He has said that personnel changes are coming to strengthen Ukraine’s Air Force, framing them as “new decisions” that will affect how the service is led and how it fights. The president has tied these moves directly to the need to protect Ukraine from continued Russian missile and drone attacks, which have tested air defenses from Kyiv to frontline cities.
So far, Zelenskyy has kept the details deliberately vague, a point underscored in reporting that he has not specified exactly what the changes will involve even as he promises that they are due soon, according to Roman Petrenko. What he has confirmed is that the goal is to make the Air Force more effective in a grinding conflict where Russian aviation and long-range fires still enjoy numerical advantages. By telegraphing change without naming names, he is putting senior commanders on notice while preserving room to calibrate the scope of the shake-up.
A new defense team and the logic of the reshuffle
The looming Air Force overhaul is part of a broader pattern that has defined Zelenskyy’s start to the year. He has already appointed Mykhailo Fedorov as Ukraine’s new Minister of Defense, with reports highlighting the decision to Appoint Mykhailo Fedorov as part of a major shake-up that also elevated Denys Shmyhal to the role of Vice Prime Minister and Minister. Fedorov, known for his background in digital transformation, is expected to bring a tech-driven mindset to the defense portfolio, including the air domain.
Zelenskyy has said that he has already issued instructions to the newly appointed Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov regarding the Air Force, according to Details of his remarks. In a separate formulation, he has again stressed that he has given Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov specific tasks on the Air Force, as noted in another segment of the same report on Details. This pairing of a younger, tech-savvy minister with a promise of deep changes in a traditionally conservative branch suggests that Zelenskyy wants to hardwire innovation into the command chain.
Security purges and a new chief of staff
The Air Force is not the first pillar of the security state to feel Zelenskyy’s impatience. Earlier this month he removed Ukraine’s top intelligence chief in what was described as a security shake-up, with reports noting that Saturday brought confirmation that Zelenskyy had ousted a senior figure at the heart of Ukraine’s security apparatus. That move followed a series of corruption scandals and battlefield frustrations that have eroded public trust in some of the country’s most powerful institutions.
At roughly the same time, Zelenskyy Names Ukraine’s Head of Military Intelligence as His New Chief of Staff, elevating General Kyrylo Budanov from intelligence to the president’s inner circle. One account notes that Zelenskyy Names Ukraine Head of Military Intelligence as His New Chief of Staff, while another explains that General Kyrylo Budanov has been announced as Ukraine’s new chief of staff, replacing Andriy Yerma, according to a briefing that summarized What you need to know. A separate account notes that Zelensky Names General to Replace Chief of Staff Ousted in a Graft Scandal, underscoring that President Volodymyr Zelensky was responding to allegations of corruption when he decided to Zelensky Names General to Replace Chief of Staff Ousted in a Graft Scandal.
Modernising air power: from F-16s to Tempest
The personnel moves are unfolding alongside a quiet but significant transformation of Ukraine’s air capabilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Monday that Kyiv has signed a letter of intent to acquire up to 100 of the French fighter jets that are expected to form the backbone of a future fleet, a deal that could eventually replace much of Ukraine’s aging Soviet-era inventory. Another account of the same announcement notes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Kyiv had agreed to pursue up to 100 aircraft, a figure that underscores the scale of his ambition for Kyiv in the long term.
At the same time, Ukraine is experimenting with new layers of air defense. According to one report, the country has reportedly received a U.S. system known as Tempest for testing, with the account noting that According to the publication, the Tempest air defense system was first publicly presented in 2025 at the AUSA 2025 exhibition, where it was pitched as a way to counter drones like the Shahed that have become a staple of Russian attacks. The same report notes that despite the system being quite expensive, it could still become an important component in Ukraine’s air defense architecture, adding another layer to the mix of Patriots, NASAMS and German-supplied systems already in use.
War pressures, mobilisation reforms and political stakes
The urgency behind these changes is rooted in the battlefield reality. Nearly four years into the conflict with Russia, which began Feb. 24, 2022, Ukrainian lines are holding, but Russian advances and missile barrages continue to test the country’s resilience, as one account of the fighting notes when describing how Nearly four years into the war, Ukrainian forces keep bouncing back. In that context, air power and air defense are not abstract modernization projects but daily questions of survival for cities and frontline units.
Zelenskyy has also acknowledged that the country’s mobilisation system needs a reset. In recent comments, he said that much broader changes are needed to Ukraine’s mobilisation system, a message captured in a report that quotes Zelenskiy as calling for systemic reform. Any reorganisation of the Air Force will have to fit into that wider effort, since pilots, ground crews and air defense operators are all drawn from the same pool of mobilised citizens whose willingness to serve depends on perceptions of fairness and competence.
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